Hot Chocolate
by FireDitto
Summary: A wild storm awakens Raven, and, as the night continues, brings out companionship, random conversation and mugs of hot chocolate.


**Authors Note:**_ No, I haven't forgotten about SNR, but this just came to me, so I thought I'd better do as I was being told and write it down. Enjoy._

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The large living area was cast in shadows, the world outside was cast in water. Below her, far below and bashing against the side of the island, waves crashed. They were accompanied by the torrent of water colliding with the windows, to run in rivulets down the tower. The wind was more than howling, and it was the combination of this, Mother Nature's latest spanking of the Tower's city and surrounding area, which had awoken Raven at an unacceptable hour of the morning. It was about four thirty in the morning, and Raven would have been much happier sleeping until about seven, when she usually got up.

"Just a little wet," the girl murmured to herself, eyes sparkling with some inner amusement; though otherwise her features showed nothing of what she was feeling. Shaking her head slightly, Raven walked silently away from the window and over into the kitchen, where she poured a glass of milk, sticking it in the microwave until it was hot, and then four towering teaspoons of chocolate found their way into the cup. With a slightly sarcastic smirk on her face, Raven added two marshmallows to the brew, snorted at her own idiocy, and silently glided back to her window, stepping close enough to touch the glass, to feel the moisture on the clear shield, and draw her hand back, leaving a print there.

"Secrets, Raven?"

The girl started at the soft whisper, and turned to look over her left shoulder at the rooms other occupant, wondering when they had entered, before nodding slightly, once, in acceptance of that question.

"We all have our secrets," she murmured, turning back to look out over the thrashing weather, waves rolling and foaming under the torrent of rain. A soft laugh was the response she gained, and padding steps brought a green changeling to come and stand at her side, cool hands gently stealing her hot chocolate and sipping it before handing it back. Raven gave Beastboy a flat look, and the other gave a half smile.

"Didn't know you liked chocolate."

"There are a lot of things I like, that you don't know about." Raven responded, taking a sip of the drink herself holding the warm mug in her small hands, stealing the heat from the thick china.

"Fair enough."

Raven shook her head, amusement sparking her eyes up briefly, but the small show was missed by Beastboy who was looking out the window with a small frown head tilted slightly to one side. Raven glanced up at him, blinking once at his strange expression, and taking another sip of chocolate. She handed him the mug as she spoke softly.

"Why the puzzled look?"

Beastboy took his time in answering, instead wrapping his own hands around the mug and staring absently out the window. "What do you think," he asked, not looking at her. "Is she happy, or in a bitch of a mood?"

Confused, Raven uttered her most articulate sentence.

"Wha?" with an utterly dumbfounded look on her face, completely lost. Beastboy, surprised, glanced down at her before bursting into soft laughter, releasing the mug from one hand to wipe mockingly at a fake tear.

"God, Rae, your face." Shaking his head, Beastboy gestured outside before Raven acted upon her grumpy face and stalked off. "Mother Nature," were the two words he used to elaborate.

"Oh," Raven muttered, stealing her mug back and glancing in it. Only the thick powdery stuff was left. Scrunching her nose, she gave the cup back to Beastboy, who didn't seem to realise he was taking it. Raven smirked as he raised it to his lips and drank the powdery substance, realised what it was, and spit it back into the cup. If Raven were someone else, she probably would have snickered in amusement of one form or another. Being Raven, however, she snorted her amusement, eyes bright, and covered her mouth with one hand. Beastboy poked his tongue out at her, and set the cup down on the Coffee table near the couch some few steps behind them.

"Well?"

Raven looked up at Beastboy, Garfield, Changeling… Whatever it was he was currently calling himself. Robin had already changed his name to "Nightwing" and was strutting around in his new costume. Starfire had gone into graphic detail when he'd asked her what it was he'd looked like when she'd gone into the future, and the pair had managed to blackmail (for how else would they get him to?!) Cyborg into making the suit; Raven was still interested in knowing how it was Robin had found out that Cyborg could sew.

"I don't know." Raven stated, looking up at Beastboy with a slight frown. "Why ask me?"

Garfield grinned slightly, and wrapped an arm around Raven's shoulders, ignoring it when she stiffened. "You know everything." He teased, squeezing her slightly. Raven scowled at him and poked him in the side, just between two ribs, and he let go of her with a squeak. The girl's expression turned to one of deep satisfaction.

"Ticklish?" She questioned innocently, and the changeling frowned, pursing his lips, his expression becoming a strange mixture of seriousness and irritableness. Raven's smirk threatened to widen but she controlled it.

"Everyone is ticklish." Garfield finally spoke, studying her face, "you simply have to find out where."

"Is that so?"

"Yup."

Silence befell them after this, and Beastboy moved away from the window to pick up the mug, and carry it to the sink. Raven didn't bother to move, but stepped closer to the glass, drawing on the dewy window with her right hand pointer finger, the lines simple by themselves but soon creating a complicated design that was added too – rather than destroyed – by the droplets that would run down through it.

"Here," Garfield was back, and he handed her a mug with hot chocolate in it, and two marshmallows floating on top. Raven raised an eyebrow speculatively. "Four scoops of chocolate, two marshmallows, all milk and now sugar." The other eyebrow rose to accompany its partner. Garfield smiled slightly.

"How did you know that?" Raven asked quietly as she accepted the mug and took a small sip, finding her companion true to his word. Her dark eyes watched his face.

A slight, one shouldered shrug, and the young man took a sip of his own drink. "Talent?" he asked, turning the single word into a question on several levels. Raven shook her head slightly, but didn't verbalise a disagreement.

"Hah!" Raven muttered under her breath, causing Beastboy to startle slightly and look at her. Her eyes were focused on the world outside the window. Glancing out, Garfield tried to find out what had caused that single exclaim from his friend. Some five seconds later a clash shook the very windows of the tower and caused the green changeling to swear in surprise, and Raven let out a breath through her nose that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

"Great."

Purple-ish gaze lifted to look at a green face that was disgruntled, and the girl's hand closest to Garfield rose to pat him twice on the arm, further startling him so that a smile did flash across her face. He managed to catch that one, and her amusement couldn't be hidden as it shone out her eyes.

"There, there," she muttered, amusement even daring to touch her tone. Garfield scowled at her, while the both of them were fully aware of the ironic expression exchange between them.

"You saw the lightning," he said, referring to her 'hah' from before. Raven nodded as she nodded to the window.

"Couldn't you… sense it or something?" She questioned softly, glancing back up at him.

"If I pay attention, I guess." He shrugged, and flinched as a bolt of lightning flashed across the bottom of the clouds, which weren't too far over head, followed almost instantly by a massive clap of thunder that caused the glass in the window to tremor so much that the pair heard it. Raven's eyes widened slightly and Garfield was grimacing. Both took unconscious steps backwards from the window.

"This'll wake the others up." She muttered, not sure if that were a good thing or not, her tone completely neutral as she spoke.

"Yes," Garfield murmured, rising his mug to his lips and sipping it, licking the froth from his top lip and blinking as another bolt of pure electricity danced across the sky. The thunder that boomed left the previous two for dead and Garfield clutched his cup slightly harder, not wanting to drop it. He glanced at his friend, noticing her stoic expression, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her over to the couch and sitting down on it. Raven sat beside him, lifting the mug to her lips so her eyes gazed over the top.

"Bloody storms… Bloody thunder… Bloody lightning…" the mumbling caught both Raven and Garfield's attention, and both peered over the top of the couch to watch Cyborg grumbling to himself as he stalked into the kitchen, made a racket, and then stalked towards the couch, stopping when he saw their green and purple eyes watching him.

"Want a chocolate?" he asked randomly, holding up his own large cup, and expecting an affirmative and a negative answer, he was surprised when they both held up their own mugs, blinked at him, and then settled back down on the couch. Shrugging, Cyborg joined them, sitting down on the other side of Raven, and taking a long draught of his hot drink.

"Don't like storms?" Cyborg blinked in surprise at Raven's quiet voice, noting the lack of sarcasm within the tones and glanced at her sideways. She was sandwiched quite tightly between both himself and Beastboy, much to his amusement, though neither of them seemed to notice or care. He shrugged slightly.

"Don't like being woken up." He grumped, causing a snort of amusement from Beastboy and a sound that maybe, possibly, for Raven, _was_ laughter… Albeit a breathy one expelled through the nose.

"Join the club." Robin surprised them all, though only Cyborg showed his surprise, and started. The other two simply looked up at him unblinkingly and then sipped their chocolates. Shaking his head, Robin plonked down beside Beastboy and stared out the window.

"Murph." Starfire groaned, slumping down somewhere between on and beside Robin. Raven visibly bit her bottom lip to stop laughter, while Cyborg and Beastboy both sniggered in amusement; at both her groan and her landing. Robin flushed, but looked deeply amused as well.

"So much for our romantic morning." Raven said out of the blue, causing everyone to look at her. She was pulling off a remarkably good pout. Robin and Cyborg stared at her with dropped jaws, while Starfire seemed to be trying to get her brain to work. Garfield waited a moment, to let their reactions draw out, and then burst into laughter, holding his chocolate out from his body so as not to spill it on himself.

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**Authors Note:**_ I hope you enjoyed. Raven is a little ooc, I think, but she was being a little difficult. As for her last comment, you are free to make of that what you will. -grins- Let me know what you make of it, if you please. I'm curious._

_I'll have a new chapter up for SNR soon, I hope. I haven't forgotten about it, I swear._

_ Also, if you're interested in something a little random, I have a couple of One Shots on under "fireditto" if you want to check them out ;)  
_

FireDitto


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